You Can Do Anything!

What would you like to be?

by Alexandra Palmer

Suitable for Key Stage 2

Aims

To consider what we might like to be in the future.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (You Can Do Anything) and the means to display them.
• Optional: you may wish to use the extension activity (You Can Do Anything - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.
  

Assembly

1. Show Slide 1.
   
   Ask the children whether they have any ideas about what they might like to be in the future.
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
2. Tell the children that you are going to show them some slides of famous people who have achieved their ambitions, even though they had to overcome some problems along the way.
   
   
3. Show Slide 2.
   
   Marcus Rashford grew up in a single-parent family where his mum had to work multiple jobs so that Marcus and his brothers and sisters could eat. He was talent-spotted when he was 11 years old and selected for the Manchester United Schoolboy Scholars scheme. Rashford has continued to play for Manchester United, and has also become known for his charity work.
   
   In October 2019, he set up ‘In the Box’, a campaign to supply essential items for homeless people in Manchester at Christmas. In March 2020, when the UK went into lockdown due to Covid, Rashford campaigned for children to continue to receive free school meals even though they were no longer at school. That same year, in October, he was awarded an MBE for his work, and he has continued to campaign to end child food poverty.
   
   
4. Show Slide 3.
   
   In the years before J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series, she had had a tough time, including splitting up with her husband. When she was writing the first book in the Harry Potter series, she often ended up writing in cafes to keep warm. Since the global success of the Harry Potter books and films, J.K. Rowling has given a lot of money to charity and medical causes because she knows how important it is to help others who need support.
   
   
5. Show Slide 4.
   
   Stormzy started rapping when he was 11 years old. He admits that he was naughty at school and was nearly expelled. However, after feeling disappointed with his A-level results, he realized how important it is to work hard, and he turned his life around. Stormzy’s Christian faith is important to him and in 2018, he set up the Stormzy Scholarship, which involves him paying for two UK black students each year to attend Cambridge University.
   
   
6. Show Slide 5.
   
   Sir Lewis Hamilton has won seven World Drivers’ Championship titles in Formula One, but endured bullying and racist abuse as a child. As an adult, he campaigns against racism and has done a lot of work for children’s charities.
   
   Billy Monger is a racing driver who had a terrible crash during a Formula 4 race in 2017 that caused both of his legs to be amputated. After treatment, he returned to racing in a specially adapted car for the next two years. In March 2021, he raised over £3 million for Comic Relief by walking, kayaking and cycling 140 miles.
   
   
7. Show Slide 6.
   
   When Dame Sarah Gilbert led the development of a universal flu vaccine in 2011, she could not have known what would happen less than ten years later. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, she helped to develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in just under a year, which has helped millions of people. To develop the vaccine, she had to overcome many problems.
   
   
8. Show Slide 7.
   
   Bear Grylls is Chief Scout and Chief Ambassador of World Scouting and has presented numerous TV shows. When he was 22, he had an accident while parachuting and broke his back in three places. However, 18 months after his injury, he climbed Mount Everest. His Christian faith is very important to him.
   
   Steve Backshall is a British explorer and naturalist. Like Bear Grylls, he has presented numerous TV shows, including Deadly 60 on CBBC, but has also had to recover from breaking his back and a bad ankle injury.
   
   
9. Show Slide 8.
   
   To celebrate his hundredth birthday, Captain Sir Tom Moore decided to raise money for NHS charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden during the first Covid lockdown in April 2020. He had aimed to raise £1,000, but by the morning of his birthday, he had raised over £30 million. He didn’t allow his age to hold him back; instead, he used it to his advantage.
   
   
10. Show Slide 9.
    
    Tom Daley had a childhood dream of winning an Olympic gold medal and has competed at every Olympic Games since 2008. He never gave up and eventually achieved it on his fourth attempt in 2021. Throughout this time, he had to cope with being bullied and, sadly, the death of his dad when he was 17 years old.
    
    Hannah Cockroft was very poorly after she was born, which is why she uses a wheelchair. When she was at primary school, she wasn’t allowed to join in sporting activities. However, she wanted to prove everyone wrong and got involved in sport at secondary school. She holds numerous world records in wheelchair racing and has won seven Paralympic gold medals.
    
    
11. Show Slide 10.
    
    Rose was born deaf and, as she grew up, she really wanted to learn how to act. She has appeared in various films, but her best-known role is Frankie Lewis in EastEnders. In September 2021, she participated in Strictly Come Dancing, feeling and hearing the music through vibrations. She raised awareness of the importance of British Sign Language and went on to win the show.
    
    
12. Show Slide 11.
    
    Sir Richard Branson is an entrepreneur who has been involved in many business ventures. Some have been very successful and made lots of money, but others have failed. When his businesses have failed, Branson has got back up and tried again.
    
    At school, he had to overcome his dyslexia, which means that he finds it difficult to read and write. However, this hasn’t held him back: his dyslexia means that he has a brilliant brain that enables him to think and learn in a different way. One of his latest adventures, which has taken him many years to achieve, has been to build a spaceplane and travel to the edge of space.
    
    
13. Show Slide 12.
    
    When Emma Raducanu played for the first time at Wimbledon, in June 2021, she amazed everyone by reaching the fourth round. Unfortunately, during the match, she had to pull out due to breathing difficulties and sickness. A few months later, aged 18, she won the US Open, which was only the second Grand Slam tournament that she had ever played in.

Time for reflection

Show Slide 13.

Ask the children, ‘What do you think you need to achieve your ambitions?’

Encourage the children to discuss their answers with a partner or in small groups.

Listen to a range of responses.

Show Slide 14.

Explain that all of the people who we’ve just seen were extremely determined.

- They never gave up. They kept on going, even when they had self-doubt.
- They never quit, even when they were injured or didn’t have any money, or when nobody believed in them. They still persisted because they wanted to achieve their dreams.
- They didn’t stop until they crossed the finishing line, whether that was winning a race or competition, filming a TV show or climbing a mountain.

Ask the children to think about their ambitions for the future.

Do they have ambitions that they feel are impossible for them to achieve?

Listen to a range of responses.

Christians believe that God gives everyone ambitions and talents, and it’s up to us to use them. So, whatever we want to achieve, we need to be prepared to take the first step and work hard.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for all the people who have achieved their ambitions.
Thank you for the lessons that they can teach us about being determined and never giving up.
Thank you for the ambitions and talents that we have.
We pray that we will all have the confidence to step out and use our talents to achieve our ambitions.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Our God is a great big God’, available at: https://youtu.be/eaXPXWBcE3I (3 minutes long)

Extension activities

1. Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (You Can Do Anything - Extension Activity). Ask them to colour in the letters of the word ‘determination’ and give examples of when they need to be determined.